Eeek! It’s Monday! This weekend was a whirlwind of things-to-do and decisions being made, but my logical and ever-forgiving-of-my-0utbursts hubby and I, as usual, got it done! So now what? New brakes, renovation ideas and some big news coming in the next few weeks. We never seem to catch a break, but what is Life for if not to live it large?!

This week I am thankful to have found someone as resilient as Dave. It seems like, at least to people on Facebook, that perhaps we love each other and things never explode like WOAH(!) and leave us both seething. But, if you know me, you know that dream is not ever going to be true. There is never going to be someone I won’t fight with if I love… because if I love you that much, I’ll fight for the best you. So, when he went to work Sunday before I woke up and was there hours later than expected, of course I let myself be bought off with a cheese burger and some snuggles. Not because I’m that forgiving, but because there is never a handle sticking out when he buries the hatchet. Where I never let anything go- I dig it all up to prove some miniscule ridiculous point, he never does. It’s not just because our lines of communication are always open- there is nothing I can’t tell him (even when it’s the painful truth: like it wasn’t the dog), it’s because I do. When I make a mistake, when I cut him with words, when I’m so angry or sad or heartbroken or reminiscent that I’m losing my way, he listens. Like most men, he wants to help me fix whatever is bothering me, but if I ignore his, “what can I do to help?” offer in lieu of tears or a screaming match, he never judges me for it. In fact, his voice is often not raised, even when I blow the roof off (no, Addie is never privy to these rare incidents). It’s not often that my hubs and I disagree, but there are times I choose to be upset over understanding of his dedication to work… which he needs to do for our family. There is no talking me into the fact that it’s necessary- I will always cringe when he needs to work and it pushes into family time. But he does it out of love for us. And he loves me like no one ever has. And for that… I am thankful.

*  *  *

As far as my information about dwarfism goes this week… I wanted to give you all an update! Last week I wrote about Jude, who was fighting to stay inside his mama for a few more weeks for his health! Well… he’s still in there. Hannah (mom) was released from the hospital and is excitedly posting a few pictures of the nursery being assembled by her hubby, and dad-to-be, Sully. It is such an exciting time for her and I am SO happy to say that they are home again and making more plans on how to bring sweet warrior Jude safely into the world. Please continue to send love and prayers so that she may have a safe delivery!

*  *  *

And some random? As if I didn’t marry the perfect man (for me), I also married into a pretty cool family! Dave’s cousin, Jon, and his beautiful wife, Shannon, are running the Boston Marathon this year. Not just running it because it is an amazing, prestigious race, but they are doing it for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Their collective goal?

$20,000

On her DONATION PAGE, Shannon writes:

On April 21, 2014, my husband and I will be running the Boston Marathon® for the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge (DFMC). We are honored to have been selected to run for this world-leading institution for cancer treatment and research in honor of many loved ones.

If you were to flash back to 8 years ago, we would say the main reason we would be running for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) would be for my younger sister, Maggie, who is a cancer survivor and lifelong patient of The Jimmy Fund since the age of 15. Two weeks before beginning her sophomore year of high school, Maggie was MedFlighted to Boston Children’s Hospital to be treated for a massive bleed to the brain. She was diagnosed with a rare, malignant sarcoma tumor. Thanks to Maggie’s resilient attitude, unyielding support from family and friends, and, most importantly, the incredible expertise of specialists at Boston Children’s Hospital, The Jimmy Fund, and DFCI, she is healthy and cancer-free. It is from her that we draw so much inspiration.

What we thought and hoped was over for our family revealed itself again in my dad, but without the same success story. Our 60-year-old family man, lover of life, passed away peacefully with all of us by his side on August 6, 2013. His journey with cancer began over a year prior when he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. With grace and determination, he underwent treatment and surgery at DFCI and received a clean bill of health to return back to work. Then, almost exactly a year after his initial diagnosis, we received a phone call. It was my dad, his voice cracking, telling us that his latest scan showed the cancer that was once thought to have been eradicated had metastasized to his adrenal glands. Worse, it was in his bones…everywhere. The prognosis, we asked? A year.

A month went by and my dad began to experience uncontrollable pain. More tests revealed that the cancer was in his bone marrow. The one-year prognosis dramatically became reduced to a matter of days and my dad was discharged to home hospice care. We hold comfort in knowing that my dad was not in pain for much longer and that he had the peace of passing away in his own bed surrounded by all of those who so dearly loved him.

Our family knows cancer all too well. It may be no friend of ours, but the people we have met along the way and the bonds that have been strengthened from this awful disease are something to hold onto. We are running for DFMC to give back to an organization that has done so much for our family over the years; an organization that has given us reason to hope. We are running for those we have lost, including my dad, dad’s brother—Buddy, and my husband’s grandmother—Lucille. We are running for the survivors. We are running in support of all of those who are facing cancer, and for those in the future who may be susceptible to the disease. It is our hope to have an impact, no matter the size, in order to support improved treatments, eventual cures, and enhanced survivorship for those who have suffered from cancer.

Addie and I will be going up to Boston to cheer them both on… because that is also the anniversary of my father’s death. April 21, 1998, the greatest man I’d ever known, my best friend and first love, passed away while we all cried around his bed. We said goodbye, but no one thought it would happen. The nurse turned off the monitor sound, and from the corner of my eye I could see why- the beeps were coming slower. They were lower. They stopped. I pulled him. I yanked as hard as I could. I was sure this was just a nightmare. I would wake up.

It will be 16 years. I don’t think I’ll ever wake up.

No one should live this. No one should watch their parent die like this. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think what if there was more that could have been done? Well, there is . Every year that passes more research is out there. More answers come. More families embrace the blessing that is remission. I wish this for all families.

I ask that you take some time to share JON and SHANNON‘s donation pages wherever you can: Facebook, Twitter, email. Please get it out there. Help them reach their goal, and in turn, thousands of families who, year after year, battle this awful monster.

Have a wonderful week, Reader!